1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a soft plastic bag for accomodating a stack of personal-hygiene articles, in particular of cosmetic cotton pads, comprising a substantially cylindrical side wall, a substantially circular bottom wall and a removal mechanism, located in the bottom area of the bag, with a removable tear-off latch defined by weakening lines in the bag wall.
2. Background Art
Soft bags of the generic type, which are produced in usual manner by doubling and welding a foil web made of e.g. polyethylene, comprise a substantially cylindrical side wall and a substantially circular bottom wall. The latter is formed by doubling and welding one end of a sheet-plastic tube which is an intermediate product of bag production.
A bag, prefabricated in this usual manner, is filled with a stack of personal-hygiene articles, such as the aforementioned circular cotton pads, the direction of stacking running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bag. Afterwards, the bag is closed by a combined wield and string closure, as shown for example in WO-A-94/19249.
For the successive removal of the cotton pads, a removal mechanismn, formed substantially by a removable tear-off latch surrounded by weakening lines, is located in the bottom area of the bag.
The prior art teaches various configurations Thor the tear-off latch. Commonly, a circular tear-off latch is used, having a diameter slightly reduced in comparison to the diameter of the bottom wall, th position of the tear-off latch in the bottom wall being concentrical, which can also be seen in the above-mentioned WO-publication. In a hanging position of the bag--independently of its filling ratio--the bottom article of the remaining stack rests on the circular marginal edge which is left over from the bottom wall and can thus be grasped with the fingers from below. In this case, however, there is the disadvantage that the grasping of the bottom article is impeded by the fact that during this procedure the stack usually recedes into the inner part of the bag. This is often found annoying, especially if the bag is already emptied partially.
Furthermore, it is known from the prior art to provide a removal opening in the shape of a tearable slit located in the side wall of the bag at a short distance from the latter's bottom wall and running in a parallel direction to the edge of the bottom wall. Although the personal-hygiene articles in the bag can be grasped from the side and a receding of the stack is thus avoided, the removal of the article is yet complicated by the fact that the slit only forms a relatively narrow removal opening. Moreover, it is possible that the removal opening is directed towards the wall in the case of a soft bag hung by its string on a wall hook, so that for removal of a pad, the bag has to be turned around, which is rather inconvenient.
The above-mentioned disadvantage also applies to another known configuration of the removal opening, in which a single tear-off latch extends from the bottom wall into the side wall of the bag.